My opinions on matters of the day that, generally, have pissed me off.
Being described as a 'Surly Curmudgeon', by those who meet me on a good day, I have a poor regard for the human species.
This is my place for my free speech- not bloody yours. Crap under your own rock.

Monday, January 28, 2008

"...School heads rated 73 per cent of short-listed applicants in November and December as "very poor" or "poor", the Auckland Primary Principals' Association staffing survey found.

Almost half the applicants were beginning teachers - meaning they had less than two years' experience and needed mentoring - and a third were applying from overseas..."

So they are saying that graduate teachers- taught by other teachers- are no good.

Guess what- employers have been saying that about the majority of school leavers for years! You were in denial about pushing semi-literate simians out into the workplace- now the chickens have come home to roost!

My experience with one student teacher is training has been less than positive. We have had one doing temp work over the holidays and she was lazy, unwilling to learn or get her hands dirty in any way- along with being as dumb as mud.

We have blokes working for us that are totally illiterate but they can follow instructions !

Taylor, at age 79, is one of the oldest members of Chapter XXXIII (The Larry Thorne Chapter) of the Special Forces Association.He was placed on trial by fellow Chapter XXXIII members under the charge of "failing to use a weapon of sufficient caliber" in the shooting of an intruder at his home in Knoxville , TN , in November.

The court martial, of course, was very much tongue in cheek. The event itself was deadly serious.

Taylor had been awakened in the early morning hours of November 5, 2007,when an intruder broke into his home. He investigated the noises with one of his many weapons in hand.

"It was just after Halloween, on Monday morning at 4:30," Taylor said. I heard this commotion at the door and grabbed my fishing gun, a little .22 revolver, to see what was going on. I got to the front door and this fellow had ripped my security door out of its frame. He said, 'you're going to have to kill me. I'm coming in.'"

When a warning to leave went unheeded, Taylor brought his .22 caliber pistol to bear and shot him right between the eyes.

"I was about four feet away from him when I shot," Taylor said. "Looking back now, I'm glad he didn't die, but that boy had the hardest head I've ever seen. The bullet bounced right off."

The impact knocked the would-be thief down momentarily. He crawled out of the house then got up and ran down the street. Taylor dialed 911 and Knoxville police apprehended the wounded man about 200 yards away, hiding in a hedgerow.

Complicating the case, as well as the court martial, the offender was released on bail but failed to appear for his court date. Knoxville police said the man was homeless. They did not know his whereabouts or why he had been given bail.

The charges brought against Taylor by his fellow Green Berets were considered to be serious. He is a retired Special Forces Weapons Sergeant with extensive combat experience during the wars in Korea and Vietnam .

"Charges were brought against him under the premise that he should have saved the county and taxpayers the expense of a trial," said Chapter XXXIII President Bill Long of Asheville , NC.

The trial was held at the Hampton Inn in Brevard, part of the group's regularly scheduled quarterly meeting. Long appointed a judge, Bert Bates, a defense counsel, Jim Hash, and a prosecutor, Charlie Ponds. All are retired Special Forces non-commissioned officers with extensive combat and weapons experience.

Ponds outlined the case against Taylor , emphasizing that the citizens of Knox County were going to be burdened with significant costs to again apprehend, and then prosecute and defend the would-be burglar.

"Proper choice of a larger caliber gun would have spared the citizens this financial burden," Ponds said, "while removing one bad guy from the streets for good. He could have used a .45 or .38. The .22 just wasn't big enough to get the job done. Hash disagreed. He said Taylor had done the right thing in choosing to arm himself with a 22.

"If he'd used a .45 or something like that the round would have gone right through the perp, the wall, the neighbor's wall and possibly injured some innocent child asleep in its bed. I believe the evidence shows that Smokey Taylor exercised excellent judgment in his choice of weapons. He clearly remains to this day an excellent weapons man."

Hash then floated a theory as to why the bullet bounced off the perp's forehead. "He was victimized by old ammunition," he said, "just as he was in Korea and again in Vietnam , when his units were issued ammo left over from World War II."

Taylor said nothing in his own defense, choosing instead to allow his peers to debate the matter. The jury, consisting of all the members of the Chapter, discussed the merits of choosing a larger caliber weapon as well as the obvious benefits to society of permanently deleting the intruder so he would never again threaten any private citizen.

The other side of the coin, that of accidentally causing injury to a completely innocent citizen if a more powerful gun had been used, also gained considerable support.

Following testimony from both sides, Judge Bates determined the charges should be dismissed. The decision was met with a round of applause. In fact, there was strong sentiment expressed that Taylor should receive an award for not only choosing wisely in picking up the 22, but for the accuracy of his aim under difficult and dangerous conditions.

After the trial Taylor said the ammunition was indeed old and added the new information that the perp had soiled his pants as he crawled out the door. "I would have had an even worse mess to clean up if it had gone through his forehead," Taylor said. "It was good for both of us that it didn't."

Meanwhile, back in Knox County , the word is out: Don't go messing with Smokey Taylor. He just bought a whole bunch of fresh ammo.

Tribune Editor Bill Fishburne is a member of the Larry Thorne Chapter XXXIII of the Special Forces Association.

Friday, January 11, 2008

A couple of days ago I was rum-inspired to email an old friend I haven't talked to for a some years.

She has had two babies, her business and her husbands are booming and all is good. I will be catching up with them- for the first time in ten years- in a couple of months. I'm really looking forward to meeting up with people doing well! So many are divorcing, in recovery, or generally hating the life, the Universe and everything.

Some might think I'm like that, but it's not true. What I hate is the way the world is GOING!

Nothing like that overwhelming optimism that totally ignores the facts in front of your face!

Still- I'd like to see him find one. (I want to know what they taste like!)

"...Gilroy, a cryptozoologist (studies hidden animals), says he discovered 35 separate ground prints on a previous visit in 2001 which suggested a colony of up to 15 birds..."A cryptologist is a critter that I didn't know existed!

He may have this right, though:

"...He's also convinced about the existence of the yowie – in his words: "a homo erectus – a tool making, fire making hominid."

I'm seeing quite a few of them over the holiday period. Usually seen dragging their knuckles on the pavements outside the shops or on the front doorstep of their squalid huts, drinking beer...

"...The Corrections Department has been forced to explain why two staff members attended a work Christmas function dressed as a suspected terrorist and accused mass murderer - both of whom have been inmates in New Zealand jails..."

SO FRIGGIN WHAT!

I tell you one thing- it certainly wouldn't be custodial staff- they don't get frickin' Christmas parties- THAT sort of extravagance is only for the pen-pushers!

Corrections wouldn't give the front-line troops the steam of their piss!

Wednesday, January 02, 2008

"...Daisy, aged 13, died in Whangarei Hospital yesterday morning, just a few days before her 14th birthday this Friday.

Her friend, also aged 13, remains stable in hospital with serious injuries, which the Herald understands include a broken leg and smashed hip.

A 15-year-old boy, who was driving the motocross bike and suffered minor injuries, has been interviewed by police over the crash and been referred to youth aid..."

I was at the local beach yesterday and commented to the wife that parents that by kids these bikes need a good kick up the arse. For us it was simply a noise issue. The next day, it's another parents worst nightmare.

But hey- he's only 15 and can't possibly know right from wrong! Don't destroy his life with a prison sentence!

BULLSHIT!

Old enough to be operating a motor vehicle, old enough to be responsible for the consequences. You want to play with big boys toys, you take a big boys punishment when you screw up. If you can't do that- stick to your BMX!

For those feck-arsed busybody livestock molesters who may wish to interpret otherwise:

I assert that this website is a feckin' blog and I don't make a brass razoo for publishing it, and any views expressed on it by me are my personal political views and under paragraph (g) of Section 5(2) of the Electoral Finance Act, is not an election advertisement.

I further assert that this website is a news media Internet site and that all posts on here are written by me, as the editor, solely for the purpose of informing, enlightening or entertaining readers- mostly to feckin' entertain, and hence also is not an election advertisement under paragraph (d) of Section 5(2) of the Electoral Finance Act.